Court says consensual sex with a minor, not a crime

New Delhi, Aug 26: According to a Delhi Court, consensual sex with a girl below 18-years of age cannot be treated as an offence. The court has observed that consensual sex with a girl, who is below 18-years of age, cannot be treated as an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act.

The court rejected the plea of the police and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) that POSCO act mandates there must be total prohibition of sexual acts of any kind among teenagers and minors. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma said: "I am afraid, if that interpretation is allowed, it would mean that the human body of every individual, under 18- years, is the property of the state and no individual below 18- years can be allowed to have the pleasures associated with one's body."

The decision comes to light after the court set free a 22-year-old youth, who was accused of abducting and raping a 15-year-old girl, whom he later married.

Sharma also added that it would neither serve the object of present enactment nor the purpose of criminal laws to hold the accused guilty on the grounds that he had sexual intercourse with the girl below 18 years. He also said that it would not be good for the girl if her husband was sent to jail.

A missing complaint was filed by the girl's mother in March this year. The accused was later arrested and the girl was also recovered along with him.

The girl in her statement said that she had willingly gone to meet the accused and married him and has been living with him since then.